Chapter 1

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Any part written like *this* represents thoughts because I can't get italics on here.

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Chapter 1:

Li Yang irritably slotted a book into place on the bookshelf in the university library. The sheer noise inside his head was making him deeply regret coming to the library at such a busy time.

Unfortunately, he desperately needed a certain book for his paper that he couldn't read online so this visit had been unavoidable.

He could feel a major headache nestling at the back of his head and his mental concentration slipped. A barrage of thoughts exploded in his head. They were most likely to be from the group of students converged a bookshelf in the next aisle. Their thoughts were not happy.

*I hate group projects.*

*I need weed to get through this.*

*I'm getting drunk after this is over.*

*Why did I ever come to this university?*

He winced and gritted his teeth as he finally found his mental control again. It wasn't that those thoughts were the worst he'd ever heard. It was just that occasionally the negativity was too much. Sometimes he didn't know he had got through twenty years of life without going mad.

Li Yang had been born raised in England to a Chinese father and English mother and made the decision to attend university in China in hope a change in language and scenery would improve his situation. Admittedly he took a few seconds to translate the thoughts he was hearing into English and writing with Chinese characters took a lot of his concentration. Other than those things he hadn't experience many changes that had changed his outlook on life or distracted him from reading minds.

He had always been able to read people's thoughts. His parents were aware of it although it had taken them a while to finally believe him. One of his hopes had been that he would finally find someone else with the same ability, but that had never happened yet.

After years of suffering he had gained some control over his ability. If he concentrated hard enough on other things he could forget about his ability and drown out everything. The problem with that method was that it only worked for short periods of time, he was developing an addiction to painkillers and he was slowly becoming very disdainful because he knew everyone's innermost feelings.

There had been lots of girls at his school who had been infatuated with him purely because of his looks. People he thought might be his friends were only friendly with him because he always knew the answers. The thoughts of his teacher's had been surprisingly mean.

Of course that meant he had never had a friend.

He breathed in deeply to stop himself from remembering those moments. It was all in the past. He relaxed and felt his control slip firmly back with no audible thoughts. Perfect.

Then he felt someone tap his shoulder. He flinched and turned around to see a girl with long caramel coloured hair and matching eyes standing behind him looking at him curiously. She looked to be about his age and she was holding a few library books.

"Are you all right?" she asked seemingly in concern.

*Is he okay? He's been standing there for a while and he looks green. Last minute paper panic?*

Li Yang blinked in surprise. He had heard her thoughts without meaning to. He must have slipped up. The problem with the theory was that he couldn't hear anyone else's and there were plenty of people around.

"I am fine, there's no need to worry," he assured her. "Am I in your way?"

He looked again at the books in her arms. He was probably preventing her from putting the books back. That was why she had showed concern for him. It had been nothing more.

She shook her head.

"I was passing by and I noticed you looked off."

*He doesn't look well. Should I offer to get him a taxi?*

Li Yang found it strange that she didn't seem self-centred so far. She hadn't thought about his good looking he was or about how nice she was for showing concern. She would probably mentally show her true colours in a few seconds.

"I am fine, it's just a little last-minute panic for my paper," he assured her with a tight smile.

I thought so. I'm glad it's just that. I'm not sure that was a real smile though.

That was a surprise. She had noticed his fake smile and her thoughts were still kind.

"Well, if you are sure," she said and was about to walk away when she turned back. "What is your name by the way?"

"Li Yang," he answered.

"I'm Yi Mian," she replied cheerfully. "Maybe I will see you again soon."

With that parting line she walked away and he stared after her doubtfully. He wasn't sure what to think of her. He had heard her thoughts without meaning to and they hadn't been bad. She was a rarity. He was almost disappointed at the prospect of not seeing her again

***

Their next encounter was in a bookshop and he was in a bad mood.

His parents in England phoned him whilst he was perusing the books. It was a bookshop that catered for English language readers and it was normally a soothing place to be because it was nearly always empty.

Instead he was stressed because it was nearly full and he was struggling to hear his parents' voices and block out all the thoughts he would hear in the shop.

His mother then proceeded to be even more annoying and ask if he had a girlfriend yet.

"Mum, I do not want to have any friends let alone a girlfriend," he sighed and looked around to ascertain that the aisle he was in was still empty. "Can we talk at a different time? I am in public."

"Li Yang, I just want you to live a normal life," she said.

"I do too. It's just not possible," he shot back in annoyance.

He managed to hear her awkward intake of breath and she reluctantly said good bye. Li Yang replaced his phone in his pocket and noticed that the voices in his head were silent now.

Then the silence was pierced by a distinctive one.

*Isn't that Li Yang? He looks stressed again.*

He looked over his shoulder to see Yi Mian standing a metre away from him with a worried expression. She kept seeing him at his worst.

"Hello," he greeted with forced cheerfulness.

This time he took note of the books in her arms. These books were in English and were on the subject of occult. This caught his attention.

"Hi Li Yang. I was going to ask why you were here, but I heard you speaking in English so I guess you can read all of the books here," she commented ruefully as she looked down at her books.

"How much did you hear?" he asked cautiously.

She had better not have heard that part about his mother wanting him to have a girlfriend.

"Nothing much, I just recognised that you were talking fluently in English."

That was a relief. It would be mortifying if she heard how desperate his mother was for him to get his girlfriend and how friendless he was.

"What are you doing here?"

"It's for a paper," she answered. "I study Occult Sciences."

When Li Yang had been looking up courses to study in China he had stumbled across the information for Occult Sciences and had considered choosing it for a wild moment. What had stopped him was fear of his telepathic ability being discovered. People studying Occult Sciences would be much more likely to notice sooner or later that he was a little different.

Instead he had chosen a safe yet boring route.

Everything made sense in Chemistry and there was always a right answer.

"Are you going to be able to understand them?" he asked.

"I have started the paper very early for that reason," she admitted.

*I can't give up on it because I can only read basic English. I can just look up unfamiliar words in a dictionary.*

Li Yang gave her a searching look as he wondered what to do. He found himself wanting to help her and he was seriously wondering why. The only good thing about her was that she was keeping all the other thoughts out his head. There was nothing else.

He made his decision.

"I can give you a list of the complex vocabulary and what it means if you like."

Her wide eyes stared up at him pure happiness and his heart skipped a beat.

"Really? That will be so helpful!" she exclaimed ecstatically. "How can I repay you?"

*What do boys like? Sports? He doesn't seem to be the type. Food? Maybe he likes tea because he's English? Or is that a stereotype?*

Li Yang swallowed a smile as he listened to her thoughts. They were more amusing than expected.

"You can take me somewhere for a cup of tea," he said. "I don't mind what tea it is."

"I know just the place," she said cheerfully. "I'll come back here once I pay for those books."

She rushed off to pay before he could reply and Li Yang wondered what he had got himself into. Yi Mian reappeared a few minutes later and they left the bookshop together. By now the sun was starting to set and a cold gust of winter wind hit them which caused Yi Mian to shiver. Li Yang had checked the weather forecast earlier and was wearing a thick woollen coat and scarf to account for the drop in temperature whereas Yi Mian was wearing a raincoat.

A cold gust of winter wind hit them as soon as they stepped out into the street and Yi Mian shivered. Li Yang had read the weather forecast in advance and was wearing a thick woollen coat whereas Yi Mian was wearing a thinner windbreaker.

*My hands are cold. I want to put them in my pockets, but I have to carry the books. Why didn't I bring gloves?*

Before Li Yang could process what he was doing properly, he took out his leather gloves from his pocket and held them out to her. He kept his scarf on though.

"You can use my gloves."

Yi Mian stared at him with surprise in her eyes. "Are you sure you don't need them?"

"I don't," he assured her. "I can use my pockets."

That convinced her and she happily pulled the gloves on. Li Yang noticed how big they were on her and was amused by the difference between the sizes of their hands.

"Thank you," she smiled up at him.

***

According to Yi Mian there was an affordable teahouse popular with students from the university that was close by so they walked over there. The place looked like it was going for the rustic look with chipped wood, odd assortments of teacups, stripped down lighting everywhere and bare floorboards. On the positive side it was warm and it did serve his preferred tea.

"I see why this place is popular with students," he said as they sat down with their orders. "It has the right kind of look."

"It does live music as well," Yi Mian told him. "I can't say it's good music though. It is other students performing."

Li Yang picked up his teacup to take an exploratory sip. It was the best tea he had had yet in China and he mentally added it as a place he could go if he really wanted good tea. It wasn't particularly busy either, not that he was hearing any thoughts apart from Yi Mian's at the moment.

Currently she was enjoying her lemon and honey tea a lot and her thoughts weren't verbalised well. He felt her remember that they were there for study and not for relaxation.

She produced all of the newly purchased books from the carrier bag and put them on the table.

"Can you explain some of the vocabulary to me?" she asked. "What is … 'metaphysical phenomenon'?"

Li Yang obliged after spending a moment enjoying her attempt as speaking English and they spent an hour going over the books together.

The telepath found that he was kind of enjoying teaching her the meanings of unfamiliar English words. Yi Mian was a good listener and told the truth when she didn't understand him the first time.

*I don't thing I can make it up to him. He's saved me so much time. Should I invite him for a meal?*

"You can let me read your paper when it's done," he said. "I wouldn't mind seeing what I have helped you with."

"Of course I will," she promised. "Are you going back to your dorms after this?"

"I live by myself," he admitted. "Dorms aren't the right place for me."

"I am going to my dorm. I live with three other girls," she told him. "Sometimes I wish I didn't and think about living by myself like you do."

*I hope they did their laundry this time. They are all so messy, it's only inconveniencing them later on.*

Li Yang didn't envy her in that aspect. He honestly did not mind living alone. There was no one to argue with or find out the truth from their thoughts. No, it was better to be alone.

"I'm going right this way," she pointed. "Whereabouts do you live?"

"I live in the other direction."

*Oh.*

"I'll walk you back," he said after feeling her disappointment and strode off leaving Yi Mian to run after him.

When Li Yang eventually reached his apartment and sat down to relax and realised he had no idea what had been possessing him. He'd gone to a café, walked a girl home and had nearly accepted her invitation to come in for tea after they'd got there.

What was wrong with him?

He had felt like being sociable. That had never happened in nineteen years.

Perhaps it was because he couldn't hear anyone else's thoughts when he was around Yi Mian. It was only natural he would want to be close to her. Additionally, maybe he had become less socially awkward because he was older and more mature.

It was a novel thought.

He wouldn't mind having more contact with Yi Mian.